Munchkin, sweet boy that he is, brought home presents for the kids. Sweet Girl is enthralled with the cuddly li’l starfish he brought her.

However, DH noticed its creepy potential right away. Turn it 180 degrees…

… and pull back three legs..

and voila! A creepy demon-like thing! Ahhh!

We took a drive & spent the day with the inlaws Saturday. One of the first things we did was head out to the berry patch and picked a large bowl of raspberries.

Nothing like fresh-picked ripe raspberries, as Sweet Girl soon discovered.

I told her she had a pretty big smile on her face. "It’s easy to smile when you have a raspberry in your mouth," she told me. "They’re just smily berries!"

Silly girl.

The ILs house is one of my favorite places to take photos. They’ve been on the same patch of land for years and years…

 

 

On the way there, we saw the coolest car… a stretch sedan, actually… and it was pulling a trailer. I couldn’t help but take a pic… I mean, that’s just not something you see every day. LOL

We had to run to the Wall Marts a little bit ago. As we were getting ready to leave, Little Man asked if he could have some money. I laughed and handed him a penny. He grinned, put it in his pocket and happily climbed into his car seat.

When we got there, as he was getting out, he cried out, "Oh no! Where is my monies?" Apparently he’d pulled it back out of his pocket and had been playing with it on the way to the store. A quick glance found it on the floor of the car, and he grabbed it back up and held on tightly to it. Sweet Girl, of course, asked why he had money and she didn’t. I reminded her that he had asked for some, she hadn’t, and besides, she had plenty of change in her purse at home. Little Man’s ears perked up, and he said…

LM: [Sweet Girl], don’t you have monies?
SG: No, I left my purse at home. What kind do you have? A dime? A nickel? A penny?
LM: A penny. Why, do you want it? Would you like my penny? (holds out his hand… my heart swells with motherly pride)
SG: Well, sure! Thanks! (reaches out her hand)
LM: Well, too bad so sad! (quickly brings his hand to his chest, where he clutches his penny with both hands; my momentary delusion of motherly pride bursts like a balloon) Ha, ha! Too bad so sad!
SG: Well, that certainly wasn’t very nice! Moooom! Did you see that?
Me: Yes, [Sweet Girl] unfortunately, I did…

Sigh. I love it when they develop their personalities, I love it when they develop their personalities, I love it when they develop their personalities…..

I got talked into buying a $1 puzzle of the United States at Tar-Jay today.

 
LM working intensely on his 14th time putting it together

To nobody’s surprise, Little Man and Sweet Girl have been playing with it almost non-stop.

(If you recall, Little Man has a slight obsession with the states.)

 
LM doing the Napolean Dynamite "YES!" fist

A little while ago, as they nearly completed it yet again, Sweet Girl held up the last piece with a grand gesture and said majestically, "With this final piece, the United States will, once again, be whole, and complete!"

Seriously. Where does she get the flair for the dramatic? LOL

Several things are dancing around my head this morning. Should I blog about…

* My kids’ lack of taste in good music? Sniff, sniff, where did I go wrong… I’m listening to a rock mix my friend lent me. Guns-N-Roses’ classic "Welcome to the Jungle" came on, and I’m singing along, mildly rocking out. (Yes, mildly. I’m getting old enough that anything more than a head bob gives me a headache. Sigh. Yes, I know… headbobbing to metal is just wrong.) Sweet Girl and Kiddo came over and asked what on earth that noise was, and could I please turn it down?

* Sweet Girl’s perception of life? There is a cartoon on Nickelodeon called ‘My Life as a Teenage Robot’ that Sweet Girl just loves to watch. The main character (XJ9, or Jenny as she prefers to be called) is - you guessed it - a robot programmed to be a teenage girl. Sweet Girl was drawing her in her notebook this morning - and she did a pretty good job, really. I was able to guess what she was drawing before she told me what is was, LOL. Anyway, she drew a pretty good likeness - except she put the robot in a dress, with a tiara - and named her Princess Jenny. Because, you know, deep down, we all want to be princesses.

* Little Man? He was eating some Cocoa Dyno-Bites this morning. He held up a spoonful and said, "Wook, Mom! Dis is da same cuhwah as my eyes!" After he ate it, Sweet Girl teased him - "Little Man! You just ate your eyes! Ew!" He grinned, scooped up some more and said, "Don’t wowwy - I tan stih see! Yum yum. My eyes taste dooood!" Don’t worry, I’ve already started saving up for his therapy.

* Withdrawals? The MOFia’s board is broken, and has been for a few days. Oh well, we have our old board as a backup, right? So what if it’s slower than molasses in January and is nearly physically painful to use… chatting with the MOFs is worth it. It’s all good, right? Except that today even our backup board isn’t working! I’m going through some serious friend withdrawals… it’s hard to start my day without checking in with my gals! Especially since one of them is overdue and had her membranes stripped yesterday…  And another’s husband is going in for minor surgery today to remove skin cancer… And… and… and… I’m an addict. (Not necessarily in time spent, but I do need to check in with my friends daily!)

* My new Shelf Reliance rack? - A couple weeks ago, I was able to purchase a really cool food storage rack. Now it takes up a large corner of my dining room and is quickly noticable when you come in my kitchen. The other day my sister came in, eyed it, and said suggestively, "Hey, nice rack." Ahhh, she’s so funny. (And no, I’m not jealous that my food storage system gets more compliments than I do… why would you bring *that* up?)

OK, off to try the MOF board again… and if that doesn’t work, well, then I guess I’d better go get dressed!